Chapter 133

When Lucifer made Jo promise that she wouldn't tell anyone anything except what he said she could tell Michael, she hadn't hesitated to agree. She wanted the details, and she would have no problem keeping anything unimportant from everyone it didn't affect. She hadn't expected this extra little tidbit he added to be so important, and not being able to tell anyone... It's not easy.

Of course, not being able to tell Jack anything complicated things even more. She couldn't tell Michael anything with Jack right there, and he was in no rush to leave. She doesn't get Michael alone until that night, and she repeats her prepared explanation over and over in her head as her boyfriend accompanies her to her bed.

She must not be as subtle as she would like to think she is, because as soon as the door closes behind them, he asks, "What's wrong, Jo?"

"Nothing!" she says quickly. "Er, I mean..." She clears her throat. "Nothing's wrong. I just..." God, she hadn't expected him to initiate the conversation. That threw off her whole preparation.

"Hey." Michael cups her face in his hand, a calm, reassuring movement. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm --" She swallows hard. "I just... I have to tell you something."

"Of course," Michael says. "Come here." He sits down on the edge of her bed and pats the spot next to him.

Jo can't help but smile, just a little bit. She can't believe Chuck thinks he -- or, more specifically, Lucifer -- could break them up. It would take a lot to do that. She can see that clearly right now. There's nothing for her to worry about; she knows that.

Jo sits down next to him and starts talking, explaining everything she can without breaching Lucifer's trust. "I didn't want to mention it with Jack around, but I talked to Lucifer earlier."

Michael's expression darkens, which catches Jo by surprise. Michael's usually so good about being the kinder, caring brother. She'd expected curiosity, not distrust, and she's not sure how to feel about that.

"Okay," Michael says slowly. "And that's... bad? Good?"

"Little bit of both, I guess," Jo says. "Lucifer wanted me to know -- wanted to know, I guess -- that he talked to Chuck."

"Oh, joy," Michael deadpans, which is about how she felt when Lucifer told her, too.

"And apparently," Jo continues, "Chuck wants us to break up."

Michael shakes his head, unbothered. "That just sounds like Lucifer trying to cause problems without getting involved. He's gonna have to try harder than that."

"No, I don't mean he was to break us up," Jo says. "I mean he was warning us. Chuck tried to get him to break us up -- god knows how he would do that, though -- and he said no and came to let us know just in case Chuck tries to do it himself."

"I don't believe it," Michael says.

Jo cocks an eyebrow, a bit taken aback by that. "What's not to believe?"

"It just doesn't make sense," he says. "He'd have no reason to tell us that. It doesn't help him at all."

"I don't think he was trying to help himself," Jo says. "I think he just wanted us to look out for whatever Chuck throws our way."

"But ?" Michael asks. "Why does he care? He doesn't like either of us."

"No, I told you, we made a peace treaty," Jo says. "We're fine now."

"Just because he agreed not to torment you doesn't mean he you," Michael says. "Not enough to go out of his way to find you, to 'try to keep us together.' It's just... it's not realistic. There's something else happening here."

Jo frowns. She Lucifer was being sincere, but if Michael doesn't believe it... Well, he knows Lucifer better than she does. Maybe he's right. Sure, she has one piece of information he doesn't -- that this was one of his requirements for Chuck to let them all out of here -- but that doesn't feel like something important, like it would change anything.

Jo shakes the thought out of her head. "Well, whatever. Now you know. C'mon." She lies down and gestures for him to join her. "I think it's time to go to sleep."

That gets a small smile out of him. "Good night, Jo."

"'Night, babe."